אבנימ

Colossians 2.16-19

Prologue

Today, we are going to hear a brief exhortation from the apostle Paul, from his letter to the church at Colossae. Please turn to Paul’s letter to the Colossians, and may the Lord be pleased “to stir up our pure minds by way of remembrance.”

As we come to Paul’s letter, we should take a moment to consider the author. One thing we know about Paul from the Scriptures is that he was a man consumed with concern for “all the churches,” and so, when he wrote to a church, he had very definite reasons for doing so. There was nothing haphazard about his epistolary efforts – he did not spend the precious time God had given him to write miscellaneous treatises which had no immediate practical application. No, Paul had a passionate zeal for God’s glory and a pastoral concern for His sheep, and these consuming concerns are what actuated his letters.

Paul himself makes this clear in this very letter to the Colossians, in 1.28:

We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

So as we read, hear and consider this portion of Scripture, we must endeavor to understand it under this over-arching purpose. Today, the Spirit of God through Paul is proclaiming Christ to us, he is admonishing us, and he is teaching us, so that we may become complete in Christ.

Introduction

So what were the particular problems in the Colossian church, which concerned the apostle to the point that he was, moved to write to them?

* What doctrinal errors begged to be corrected by his teaching?
* What failures of life and understanding called for his admonition?
* And how would his words serve to build them up in Christ the Savior?

Time does not permit us to go into great detail on the troubles in Colossae which Paul was addressing in this letter, but in brief this was the scenario:

Epaphras (1.7, 4.2), the Colossian evangelist, had recently reported to Paul that his beloved home church was falling prey to dangerous error in the form of Gnostic false teaching.

The term “Gnostic” comes from the Greek word “gnosis” which means knowledge. Gnosticism has many manifestations past and present, but the common element in all of them is a setting forth of requirements by which we attain to salvation only through some kind of “special knowledge.” This can be through the performance of secret rites, or the fastidious observance of external ordinances, or the keeping of feasts and festivals, or ascetic practices like fasts, self-abasement, and other abstinences. Some Gnostics even taught that we can only ascend to glory only through a hierarchy of angelic mediaries. There is much more we could say about Gnosticism in general, and the trouble in Colossae in particular, but this provides the general background we need for our text.

Please turn there now. Colossians 2.16-19

“Listen carefully: this is God’s word”

NASB 16 Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day
17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,
19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

2.16 Μὴ οὖν τις ὑμᾶς κρινέτω ἐν βρώσει καὶ ἐν πόσει ἢ ἐν μέρει ἑορτῆς ἢ νεομηνίας ἢ σαββάτων· 17 ἅ ἐστιν σκιὰ τῶν μελλόντων, τὸ δὲ σῶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ. 18 μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς καταβραβευέτω θέλων ἐν ταπεινοφροσύνῃ καὶ θρησκείᾳ τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἃ ἑόρακεν ἐμβατεύων, εἰκῇ φυσιούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ νοὸς τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ, 19 καὶ οὐ κρατῶν τὴν κεφαλήν, ἐξ οὗ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα διὰ τῶν ἁφῶν καὶ συνδέσμων ἐπιχορηγούμενον καὶ συμβιβαζόμενον αὔξει τὴν αὔξησιν τοῦ θεοῦ.

Have you ever read or heard a news account of some unsuspecting group of senior citizens being preyed upon by pitiless swindlers who rob them of their limited livelihood? Through some unscrupulous scam they cheat these poor folks out of their precious personal savings by taking advantage of their gullibility. Most of us react with indignation when we hear of such things. We are sickened and appalled. And if you or a loved one have ever been robbed or cheated, you probably know well the wrenching feelings it produces. You feel violated.

This is exactly why Paul chooses this particular analogy to warn us!

Note that in his exhortation immediately preceding this one in 2.8, he chooses a potent military metaphor:

2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception… (imagine the abhorrence of being made a slave!)

And now here Paul again intentionally seeks to stir up the fire of strong emotions in us, that comes from being swindled (what a sickening thing it is to be cheated!), in order to make us zealous in our vigilance against those ruthless thieves who would rob us of our priceless treasure: Jesus Christ.

Remember our Lord said:

John 10.1 … he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.
and
10.10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;”

Paul is here warning us against these very thieves. He begins with:

“Therefore no one is to act as your judge”

First of all we must understand that this “therefore” – is the reason why we are to let no one judge us. “Therefore” is referring in general to Paul’s entire argument in the letter to this point, in which he states so strongly the absolute supremacy of Christ, and our full and final salvation in Him.

The “therefore” also refers immediately and particularly to the verses which immediately precede our text.

Let’s look first at the general reference. Paul’s letter up to this point brings forth these foundational truths about Christ and our salvation in Him:

* Christ delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son – 1.13
* In Christ we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins – 1.14
* Christ is the image of God, and the heir of all creation – 1.15
* Christ created everything, and it all exists for Him – 1.16
* Christ preserves everything “in Him all things hold together” – 1.17
* Christ is the head of the body – 1.18
* Christ is the first-born of the new race by His resurrection – 1.18
* Christ is pre-eminent over all — 1.18
* All the fullness of God dwells in Christ – 1.19, 2.9
* Christ has reconciled all things to God by His cross 1.20
* Though we were enemies and dead in sins, Christ has reconciled us to God through His death – 1.21, 2.13
* Christ dwells in us, and is alone our hope of glory – 1.27
* All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ – 2.3 (Notice here how Paul uses the Gnostics’ own terminology “knowledge” and “hidden” and “mystery” to disarm them)
* We are complete in Christ. – 2.10

Then we look to the sentence immediately preceding our text where Paul states this about our debt to the Holy God:

2:14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; … He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross…etc.

It is because of these great facts, which Paul asserts up to this point in the letter — who Christ is, who we are in Him and what we have in Him, that we are to refuse to allow anyone to judge us

“in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day”

and then with respect to the immediately preceding statement, it is particularly because our debt of obligation to the Holy God has been fully paid, having been erased and cancelled out by the cross of Christ.

What Paul is laboring to drive home to us is that we must absolutely refuse to accept any more indebtedness in any form because Christ has cleared all debts, once and forever!

The thieves, the would-be judges, who do not enter through Jesus Christ the door, would have us follow them, not Christ. They would demand payment again when full payment has already been made. Just imagine that you had a huge mortgage, which your wealthy and generous elder brother paid off in full. Then the month following this you received an invoice requiring another payment, showing the same old large balance outstanding. “Now hold on just a minute,” you say, “I am now the owner, free and clear, what’s with this? In the round file with it!” This is the urgent sense of Paul’s words “let no one judge you,” and this is exactly what kind of indignant response he seeks to call forth from us who have had all our sin debts paid off in full.

But Paul does not stop there. If it were not enough that these supposed additional obligations are completely bogus, they are not even in today’s currency:

Paul says in vs. 17 that these are

things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

In other words, the dietary laws, ritual ordinances, festivals and feasts were ordained by God under the Old Covenant and therefore they were legitimate for that time. BUT, they were all set forth for a season, as types for the primary purpose of pointing to the full and final reality in Jesus Christ.

Paul is here presenting the clear contrast between the body and the shadows which the body casts. Picture this in your mind. Think about it:
* Only the body is real.
* The shadows are cast by the body
* Shadows have no existence apart from the body
* Shadows are there only to remind us of the body
* Shadows are defined by the body, and nothing else
* Shadows are only cast in an oblique light.

But now, since the full noonday blaze of light in the Gospel has come in the person of Christ, the shadows have vanished, and are gone forever. They once had a legitimate purpose to point to the coming One, when the Light was still incomplete, but no longer, now that God has fully and finally revealed Himself and His salvation in Jesus Christ.
___

So we have Paul’s first warning:

Let no one act as your judge…

Next we have the 2nd blow, as it were, in Paul’s one-two punch:

Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize…

To drive home his admonition yet further, Paul uses another, and perhaps even more strongly compelling image.

Now we are to identify with the one who has fairly won the coveted prize in an athletic contest. But afterwards one posing as a judge comes along and says "no, you haven’t quite won the prize yet,

* you still need to perform these feats
* and satisfy those requirements
* and learn the special secrets
* and accomplish these tasks…"

What?!! Would not this heat your blood if you or your friend were the victorious champion? Again, this is precisely Paul’s intention, namely that we should become incensed about this scandalous defrauding of a fairly won prize, and thereby be strengthened against the malicious persuasions of those who would cheat us of our precious prize, Christ Jesus.

Now that we have heard Paul’s warning in no uncertain terms, how then are we to recognize these thieves, so that we might be on guard against them? Paul gives us all the telltale signs in vss. 18-19:

1) They delight in self-abasement, or better: “they delight in humility”. Let me repeat this: “they delight in humility.” Does this strike you as odd? Isn’t something wrong here? If someone delights in their humility that means they are proud of it. They are boasting in it, and thereby giving the lie to their vaunted “humility”. True humility is not conscious of itself at all, but only of the One upon whom it utterly depends.

2) They also delight in the worship of angels. These were the angelic mediaries through whom they say we must ascend one by one to reach perfection. So in effect, they are taking pleasure in putting a series of hoops between you and Christ your Savior. Extra requirements, “yes but’s” Christ alone, but not quite.

3) They “take their stand on visions they have seen.” In other words they put major stock in their spiritual experiences, more than in the objective Gospel of Christ. These visions or experiences become the basis of their profession and their hope, rather than Christ and His finished work.

4) They are “inflated without cause by their fleshly minds” – this is the inevitable result of their aforementioned errors, namely that they are puffed up by their own foolish speculations, because…

5) they do NOT hold fast to the Head, Christ.

This climactic rhetorical negative is in stark contrast to the preceding positives:
Here are the positive statements:

* They do delight in humility
* They do delight in angel-worship
* They do take their stand on visions
* They are vainly inflated by their fleshly minds…
BUT … Here is the climactic negative:
* THEY DO NOT HOLD FAST TO CHRIST!

What an indictment this is! Because they do not cling to Christ the Head, therefore they cannot grow with the true spiritual growth which is from God.

Application

How are we apply these warnings to our own lives? You may protest that you are not accustomed to being accosted by Gnostics in the local coffee shop. Well as a matter of fact, you probably are, but just may not have thought about it in those terms. Remember that Gnosticism is essentially the adding of more special requirements for salvation beyond the pure Gospel of Christ. We do in fact find this today on every hand.

So here are three helpful principles that we can take from this text to guard ourselves against the thieves:

FIRST: The best antidote to false teaching is the true knowledge of Christ.
a) It has been well said that the best way to discern a counterfeit is to be intimately acquainted with the authentic article. So it is with Christ. Know the Lord, know His Word, be renewed in your mind by daily intercourse with the Lord in His Word and prayer, and you won’t be nearly as vulnerable to false teachers.
b) This is exactly Paul’s approach to the erring ones he addresses in this letter – he takes great pains to preach Christ, to remind us of His nature, and of our standing in Him (1.27 Christ in you, the hope of glory), and he prays
1.9 that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
and that you may be
1.11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might

c) Remember our Lord’s words:
John 10.27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

SECONDLY: Be wary of anything that could distract you away from Christ and His cross. (even something that is good):

a) You could, for example, become pre-occupied with your participation in the work of the church for its own sake, and subtly begin to put more stock in your religious performance than in Christ.

b) You could take pleasure in your Christian character and service. Your adversary constantly seeks whom he may devour. Remember our Lord’s words: “The thief comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy” You must be wise enough to realize that whenever you do a good work in the Spirit of Christ, the Accuser, and your own fallen nature will be right there to tempt you to think well of yourself. This is very dangerous indeed! We still have a fallen nature, and spiritual pride is the most deadly of all. Witness the Pharisees. They were “puffed up without cause by their fleshly minds.” We must be diligent to remember that it is God who works in us both to will and to work for His good pleasure. If we know and believe and do the Truth, it is entirely by His grace that we do so, because He “has opened our minds to understand the Scriptures.”

c) You could become enamored with certain prescriptions or methods of prayer or fasting or other Christian disciplines. If we begin to view some devotional method as a formula for spiritual growth, we will be in peril of trusting in the method, rather than in The Mediator. By this I am certainly NOT suggesting that we ought not to pray and fast, and practice daily the needful Christian disciplines But we must serve the Lord diligently and faithfully because we are standing in Christ, not in order to gain standing in Christ.

d) You could be tempted to look back with nostalgia upon some unique and watershed event in your Christian experience, focusing upon that event as the basis of your hope, rather than upon the person of Christ. God may have saved you in an amazing and remarkable manner, as He did me, for which we are right to thank Him, but it is never an experience, per se, which saves us, but Christ Himself. The only past events to which we look as the sure foundation of our hope are the death, burial and resurrection of Christ our Savior.

THIRDLY, (and finally) -True spiritual growth comes only from union with Christ.

2.19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

Here is the double-edged sword of this verse:

On one edge of the sword, we see that those who do not hold fast to Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, have no spiritual life in themselves. So do not be deceived: however moral, upright, wise and insightful one may seem, if he is relying upon something other than Christ, or in addition to Christ for his life, then he has no life.

And on the other edge of this sword, we must know and understand that for those who are in Christ, there is no secret formula for spiritual growth, apart from abiding in Him. Every true member of Christ’s body derives his or her life and growth from the Christ Himself, the Head. So, if you desire to grow in Christ, then you must cultivate the vital connections of life with Him, and with the members of His body. These connections are what Paul here calls “being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments.” In these vital connections of life, we must hold fast in every facet of our lives to Jesus Christ, who is the source of Life.

Prayer

Our great and gracious Heavenly Father, we thank You for our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the source of Life for us who trust in Him. We thank you for Your Holy Word, that is Living and Active and sharper than any double-edged sword. We thank you for the hearing of Your Word today and pray that Your Word would not return to You empty, but that it will accomplish exactly what you intend in us, who are being conformed to the image of Your dear Son, our Savior.

Dear Father, grant us grace to hold fast to Jesus Christ our Head, and to accept no substitutes. Fill us with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that we may walk worthy of our Lord Jesus, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of You.

Lord, we confess that apart from You, we can do nothing, and so we pray that You will strengthen us with all might, according to Your glorious power which works in us, for all patience and longsuffering with joy.

Through Jesus Christ our Living Hope, Amen.